LUMEN Spring 2022 - Flipbook - Page 38
O
nce a budding musician, Nick Shaw’s
unplanned turn to law has taken him
from Adelaide to New York and
London – but he has never forgotten
the teachers who inspired him and helped shape
his life.
Nick’s dad (William Shaw OAM) ran a music
school, and Nick and his brothers studied music
and were all “supposed to be musicians”.
“Going into my last year at high school,
I realised that music was never going to be my
professional career. I loved it but just wasn’t going
to be a top-level musician,” said Nick.
While he didn’t end up pursuing a career in music,
Nick remembers his “remarkable piano teacher”,
Eleonora Sivan, who had a profound effect on his
life and career.
“Eleonora had been a student and teacher at the
Leningrad Conservatorium and settled in Adelaide
in 1980,” he said.
“She was completely devoted to her art,
particularly the unswerving pursuit of accuracy
and musical truth above all else.
“Being exposed to that sort of intensity at a young
age made a huge impression on me and showed
me early what it meant to be serious about
a subject.”
At University, Nick hopped around among
physics, philosophy, maths and politics before
enrolling in law.
Initially, he was not a huge fan of legal studies, but
then when he reached the fields of property and
trusts, “it all just clicked – it was a logical system
and I started to explore it all in more detail.”
A Fulbright Scholar and Partner in Simpson
Thacher’s London office, Nick is grateful to many
mentors, especially to two of his greatest law
influences, Emeritus Fellow Andrew Ligertwood
(LLB (Hons) 1967) and The Honourable John
Doyle AC QC (LLB (Hons) 1967).
“Andrew and John both gave a lot of time not just
to me, but to generations of students and young
lawyers,” he said.
“When you are younger, I think you take it for
granted there will be teachers or senior people who
take an interest in and devote energy and time to
younger people.
“It’s only as I’ve gotten older that I have realised
how hard that is — to have the time to not just get
through your own workload, but to devote time
to nurturing younger lawyers, and also to
avoid becoming jaded and to remain excited
about ideas.”
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THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
Nick ended up working for Andrew as a research
assistant. They both shared a love of music, with
Andrew being a big supporter of the Adelaide
music scene.
“Andrew was a terrific teacher and scholar. The
law of evidence is incredibly convoluted, with
hundreds of different rules for special cases. He
always tried to discover the underlying purpose of
each rule and, ultimately, how it goes to matters of
proof. “I particularly remember the law on
hearsay, which seemed confused and contradictory
and hugely puzzling to any law student. Andrew
identified an underlying rationale for the rule,
which made all the cases line up and serve the
ultimate purpose of the law. It was almost like a
magician’s trick to see it all fall into place perfectly.
“And John was just the complete hero of everyone
in the Adelaide legal community.
“He just was so brilliant, but also such a good guy
in a way that made you feel good about the world,
that someone so accomplished could rise to the
